Laghi di Sibari

Sibari is a secure, well protect harbour, a good boat yard and a safe place to winter the boat. It is also very reasonably priced.

I highly recommend it, despite some drawbacks, which you should be well aware of, before committing to a winter:

1. In September, there is no mini market open anywhere near the marina. It is 6 Km to Sibari town and a €15 cab ride, each way. The marina kindly offers a free bus ride to the supermarket twice a week, which is quite workable once you get used to the schedule . The bus rides are also a good time to meet other cruisers from the marina.

The marina offers the use of a bicycle, but it is quite a way to town and some of it would be highway travel.

2. There are no good restaurants open near the marina. I walked 15 minutes to a restaurant in the Oleandro hotel for lunch once. I was the only diner, the food was OK, but quite expensive.

There is a small bar in the marina, that serves pasta and eggplant Parmesan but only on weekends.

3. 4. There is nothing much in Sibari town, except the supermarket. Not even any good restaurants. A very rural area.

5. It is a long way from airports. I caught the overnight train to Rome to fly out, although there are airports in Crotone and Lamezia Terme.

Apart from all this, it is a lovely place and the marina staff are very nice and helpful. You just need to have the right expectations and you will not be disappointed.

It is a quite a big development, and a large marina complex with apartment housing with private docks throughout. I am not sure if it picks up in summer, but it is extremely dead and depressed in September.

Don't be put off by my comments though. I am very happy to have chosen Sibari as my winter haulout and would do it again and again.

I came in in the late afternoon and docked alongside among the fishing boats after calling the Port Authority on VHF16. They came to visit the boat and check my Constituto.

They originally said I could only dock if I guaranteed someone would be onboard. Since I was single handed, they finally agreed that I could go ashore if I gave them my mobile number in case a fishing vessel needed the dock.

The first time I came in here in June, I tried to anchor near the fort in the south east corner and the holding was great, but I was summoned ashore by lots of whistling and waving and had to bring the boat alongside the east side of the central pier. They came to the boat to check my papers.

When I came back in September it was in a raging NW and I tucked up in the NW corner of the harbor next to the commercial ships and had to put out all fenders against the rough concrete wall in the big surge. I survived the night unscathed.

I came in here in the evening to get some sleep before moving on to Sibari. I left at 0200 again so I did not get to check in or find out prices.Howard [ Just Imagine ] 13-Sep-2007Take care at the harbour entrance, because there is a notice by the Coast Guard indicating 1.5 metres depth due to sand accumulation, as shown on the Google image. It is not known if the entrance is under maintenance at the time of writing. It is advisable to call the Marina on VHF to update on the conditions.